


Halley's Comet

by ASharksReadingGlasses



Series: Ghost in the NYC [7]
Category: Danny Phantom, Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Universe - Fandom, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bonding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Swearing, Team Bonding, Team Feels, mentions of child abuse, none actually happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28324227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASharksReadingGlasses/pseuds/ASharksReadingGlasses
Summary: Peter takes Danny somewhere special in order to cheer him up after yesterday's breakdown, unknowing that Danny's stay in New York is coming to an end. When he realizes Danny is leaving the next day, he has to make a choice.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Peter Parker, Danny Fenton & Wade Wilson, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson
Series: Ghost in the NYC [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045206
Comments: 112
Kudos: 858





	Halley's Comet

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the finale of Season 1 of the series! The idea for this episode comes from a guest commenter, Jade, on _Heroes About_ ; they suggested Peter and Danny go to a planetarium, and I've been keeping that idea warm in my pocket. If you're reading this Jade, thank you for your suggestion! This will be incredibly interesting to write, because the majority it is not in Danny's POV.

Peter sat hunched on the sofa in his apartment, his elbows on his knees and his hands folded in front of his face while his bit at the nail on his thumb as he tried to process the information Wade had given him. Wade was leaning against the brick wall by the window that led to his tiny porch attached to his apartment, flipping a spare switch blade aggressively between his fingers in one hand while the other was stuffed in his leather jacket pocket. Even with the Deadpool mask rolled up past his mouth, Peter could recognize that Wade was pissed when his spider sense made the hair on his arms stand up. Usually when Wade was this angry, he'd head over to Hellhouse for a job that took days of radio silence.

"What's our move, Pete?" Wade asked tightly, his usual goofy and playful cheer stripped from his voice like old paint. The small prickled of his spider sense told Peter that Fido was hanging around somewhere.

Peter winced; when he had tried to look for metahuman discrimination or protection laws, there was woefully very little. Not that it mattered, now that Danny had confirmed definitively that he wasn't a mutant. He had tried looking up laws for ghosts and ectoentities to cover his bases, but had gotten almost too much information and all on the opposite end of the spectrum. Most of the laws concerning ghosts were containment and extermination procedures; there were a few on proper conduct for officials pertaining to the search and seizure of personal property, but none on the general protection of ghosts which had sent a spike of fear down Peter's spine. Without any sort of protection for ghosts at all, Danny could easily slip through the cracks if they weren't careful.

"It just got a bit more complicated, legal-wise" Peter answered, continuing to bite at his nail. "I might need to call in a favor." Wade huffed and turned his head after giving the switch blade a final twirl before closing it dexterously, slipping it in back pocket.

"We gonna call in horn-head?" Wade asked as he crossed his arms. Peter flicked his eyes to Wade, lowering his hands.

"Are you asking if we're going to call Matt, or if we're going to call _Daredevil_?" Peter replied, leaning back into the couch and drumming his fingers on his arms. Wade's answering smile was all teeth, like he had a few devils of his own. Knowing Wade, he probably did. Peter rolled his eyes in exasperation before he refocused and chewed his lip. "Let me try talking to Danny about his parents tomorrow before we bring Matt in; I was gonna see if I could spend the day with him anyway." Wade huffed again before pushing himself off the wall, reaching back to pull the hood from his jacket lining over his head and dragging his mask over his mouth.

"Fine," Wade ground out as he stomped to the door, "Whatever. If you need me, I'll be at Hellhouse."

"Wade," Peter said sternly as he stood from the sofa and Wade paused in front of the door, his head turned to listen. "We have to be careful, all right? One wrong move and Danny could get lost in the fine print." Wade sighed and rolled his shoulders, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"Relax, Petey-pie," Wade tossed easily over his shoulder. "There are still some assholes out and about who think it's okay to leave kids to die in a dumpster. I'm just heading over to see if Weasel's got any info. I'll text you later." Peter sighed as Wade left the apartment, laying across the sofa and throwing an arm over his eyes. He didn't have time to try and reign in Wade right now; he had another favor to cash in on. He hoped, for the muggers' sake, that they were either already caught or laying low somewhere if Wade got any info on them.

* * *

> **To: DP 2.0**
> 
> Hey Danny
> 
> Wade told me about today
> 
> You doing okay?
> 
> **...DP 2.0 is typing**
> 
> **...DP 2.0 is typing**
> 
> **Your Message Has Been Read**
> 
> **To: DP 2.0**
> 
> Yeah, I figured.
> 
> You don't have to talk to me about it if
> 
> you don't want to.
> 
> Hey, I've got an idea. How about you
> 
> and me hang out tomorrow. I found
> 
> this awesome museum I wanted to
> 
> show you. No 🕸️🕷️🕸️, no 👻, no
> 
> trouble, just you and me.
> 
> **...DP 2.0 is typing**
> 
> **From: DP 2.0**
> 
> Ok
> 
> ?When and where do you want to meet
> 
> **To: DP 2.0**
> 
> I'll meet you at the safe house at 8:30
> 
> Is that good for you?
> 
> **From: DP 2.0**
> 
> .That's fine. See you then

* * *

Peter waited outside the apartment building of the safe house, leaning against the stairs that led to the lobby door. He was wearing more comfortable clothes than the last time he saw Danny; a red long-sleeved shirt under a blue vest, some threadbare jeans, and a well worn pair of sneakers. He patted one of the pockets of his vest to make sure the envelope with their tickets was still there, keeping the other in his pocket as he played with a ball of webbing, twining it around his fingers. As much as he hated to admit it, Wade was right when he said that Peter had spider-like tendencies, but doing them just made some corner in his brain happy and satisfied.

 _It's actually kinda nice that Wade noticed though_ , Peter thought as his cheeks warmed. Peter knew Wade wasn't making fun of him when he mentioned it to Danny, he was just trying to make them both comfortable with their little habits. He continued to twist the webbing between fingers, rolling it into a ball before unwinding it again, when he felt the quiver of his spider sense as Danny approached. He straightened up and started to look around, doing a double take when he finally spotted him. Danny looked absolutely miserable; he was hunched over in the same dark zip up hoodie he wore the night he fought Plasmius, hands stuffed in the pockets of a pair of dark jeans. _What in the hell happened between our text last night and now,_ Peter wondered, keeping the ball of webbing in his pocket as he raised his hand to get Danny's attention. Danny blinked and waved back as he made his way over to Peter.

"Danny, are you all right?" Peter asked worriedly. "If you didn't feel like coming, you could have texted me or something." Danny shook his head, reaching up with his hand to play with the strings of his hoodie.

"I-, Can we not talk about it, please?" Danny begged instead.

"Okay," Peter quickly reassured, lifting his hands placatingly, "I did promise a, uh-, trouble free day, right? Here." Peter reached back inside his vest pocket and handed Danny the envelope. Danny took it questioningly, opening the flap and looking inside. Instantly, his eyes widened and he straightened up in shock, his mouth gaping like a fish; Peter smiled back at him.

"No way," Danny said disbelievingly, and Peter shrugged.

"Yes way," Peter replied, giving himself a pat on the back for picking something that could distract Danny for a little while. Already he could see that Danny was in better, ah-, spirits.

"These are VIP 'Behind the Scenes' passes for the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History," Danny responded, as if Peter had accidentally given him a hundred bucks or the keys to the city.

"Yep," Peter replied a little smugly, popping the 'p', turning to walk to the nearest metro station. "You coming or what?" There was a beat, and then Peter stumbled as Danny grabbed his arm and started pulling him along enthusiastically, even though he didn't know where he was going.

"Hell yes!" Danny yelled, smiling wide and eyes nearly glowing lime green in his excitement. "C'mon, Pete, let's go!"

* * *

"Did you know the author of _2001: Space Odyssey_ made accurate predictions of satellites, space stations, space shuttles, and computer AI's? None of that stuff was even conceived when Clarke wrote it in the 1950's!" Danny exclaimed as he walked beside Peter, his arms gesturing energetically in front of him. "The cinematography and lighting were so good that a lot of people who think the moon landings are fake, think that Clarke filmed them!"

"Space Odyssey isn't too bad," Peter replied as he smiled fondly, being mindful of the other people on the sidewalk and guiding Danny around them as they walked the rest of the way to the planetarium. This was the most animated Peter had ever seen Danny, and it was endearingly cute as he stuttered over words in excitement or stumbled slightly when he wasn't paying enough attention. Was that how Peter sounded when he talked about engineering? "I thought the concept of the monolith was cool; the idea of math as a universal language was interesting. The ending was really weird though."

"Clarke had another really insane idea that a lot of other sci-fi authors borrowed; a space elevator!" Danny said, skipping ahead and turning around to walk backwards at an emptier section of sidewalk.

"Yeah, it is cool," Peter agreed, using one hand to turn Danny back around and tucking him into his side, his other hand back in his pocket playing with his tiny wad of webbing. "Conceptually it's not yet possible because they need a material with a higher tensile strength. Carbon nanotubes made with buckyballs coupled with superconductivity is the closest scientists can get right now, but even then they still have to figure out the differential velocities at each end of the elevator. Another issue is the weight of material itself; even a one atom thin string of carbon would weigh over a billion tons."

"I read an article that they were trying to integrate spider silk into the designs," Danny replied, eyeing Peter mischievously.

"Yeah, I read that article too!" Peter grinned, taking his arm off Danny's shoulders to ruffle his hair. "Proportionally, spider silk is stronger than steel. It's were I got the idea for my web shooters."

"You made those yourself? Do they actually shoot spider webs?" Danny asked in a whisper, eyes big and wide in awe.

"Yes," Peter whispered back, grinning playfully. "I made them myself. But the webs are synthetic." Danny shook his head in disbelief and they both were quiet for a moment.

"Man," Danny sighed, slipping his hands inside his hoodie pockets. "How'd you even get these tickets?"

"I have a friend who works at the planetarium," Peter replied, "We met in my college physics class, but took different career paths after that; I did engineering and she went with astrophysics."

"Duh," Danny answered smugly, slipping out from under Peter's arm and racing ahead. "That's because astrophysics is way better!"

"Danny!" Peter yelled good naturedly.

* * *

They made it to the planetarium and continued to talk (or rather, Danny continued to talk) about space while they waited in line in the lobby, Peter showing their passes to the receptionist at the desk when they made it up front with the enormous solar system display looming above them.

"Two 'Behind the Scenes' passes," The receptionist said, checking over the tickets. "All right, could you give me one minute please while I get you a tour guide?"

"Could you ask for Ashley Vita?" Peter asked the receptionist, handing over is ID. "And tell her it's Peter Parker? We spoke earlier this week." The receptionist took the card and double checked it before handing it back to Peter.

"Let me ask for her," He said, standing up and going through a door leading to the back. They waited a few minutes, Danny bouncing on the balls of his feet, more than ready to go in. The receptionist came back a few minutes later, reaching over the desk to hand Peter two clip on badges that read 'Hayden Planetarium, BTS Guests'. "She'll be right out with you, sir. Could you please wait here for a moment?"

"Thank you," Peter smiled, taking the badges and handing one of them to Danny. They only waited a minute before Ashley was coming out of the exhibit exit, slipping behind the receptionist desk to cut to the side they were waiting at, her brown hair swinging in her ponytail. She was wearing a pair of khaki pants with a dark blue collared t-shirt that had 'Hayden Planetarium' stitched in white on her left shoulder.

"Peter!" Ashley greeted, dragging him in for a brief hug that he returned before they both pulled back. "It's so good to see you! Who's this?"

"It's good to see you too Ashley," Peter answered before beckoning Danny to stand beside him. "This is Danny. I'm, um, watching him as a friend of the family."

"Hi," Danny said shyly, and Peter could tell Ashley was instantly endeared to him.

"Hi Danny," Ashley said, "Hope you haven't been too bored hanging out with Peter." Peter sputtered disbelievingly while Danny smirked.

"He's been okay," Danny replied, shrugging his shoulders, "But this is definitely the highlight of my week." Peter let out a mock gasp and grabbed Danny by his shoulders, reeling him in to rub his knuckles on Danny's head.

"Oh, you are such a little brat," Peter said jokingly before letting go and Danny laughed as he fixed his hair. Ashley just smiled.

"You're darn right, Danny," she said as she led them through the main exhibit entrance. "Now let's start this tour! Was there anything in the main exhibits you wanted to see before we went behind the scenes?"

"I'm good," Peter replied, he and Ashley turning to look at Danny.

"Um-, I already looked at all the exhibits when I was here earlier this week," Danny stammered, a little shocked by all the attention. "Could we do the behind the scenes tour first, and then go to one of the IMAX movies if there's time?"

"That's a great idea," Ashley said, leading them further into the exhibit before coming to a "Staff Only" door. She pushed it open, letting Peter and Danny go in first before leading them deeper into the planetarium. "You guys get a free IMAX movie with the VIP passes. The next earliest one that's playing is Digital Universe at 1:30, so you'll have a few hours to explore. How did you like the main exhibits Danny?"

"They were awesome!" Danny said happily; he looked ready to go ghost and do flips in the air. "My home town doesn't really have anything this open to the public. We have an observatory that I go to a lot, but its getting a bit run down."

"I'm happy you enjoyed it!" Ashley replied as they stopped briefly at a fork in the walk ways, Danny's enthusiasm infectious. "The main goal of the Hayden Planetarium is to provide educational outreach to the public about current astrophysics research and discoveries. To do that, the Planetarium is partnered with a lot of different institutions and laboratories. One of our biggest partnerships is with NASA, so sometimes we get a lot of cool samples or model prototypes to work with."

"You guys get to work with NASA?" Danny asked, awe dripping from his voice.

"Yep!" Ashley replied. "A few weeks ago we had an meteorite exhibit. We're still preparing some of the samples to be sent back; would you like to see them?"

"Yes! Absolutely!" Danny enthused, and Ashley guided them to a medium sized room filled with moving walls with sliding shelves. Ashley used a remote at the door to move some of the walls apart, stopping when she found the right one and slipping between the newly formed isles with Danny and Peter right behind her. She stopped midway down, carefully pulling out a sliding shelf after she put on a pair of soft delicate gloves from her pocket. There were maybe ten fist sized meteorites spread evenly in the shelf; some looked like cooled clumps of melted slag, a couple looked like collections of metal bubbles, another was gouged with holes and pock marks, and finally a few just looked like regular rocks. Ashley carefully lifted one of the regular looking ones out of the case and gently pulled it apart, revealing the inside and Danny gasped. Peter had to admit, it was amazing; it looked surprisingly geometric, lines of shiny metal melted together seamlessly. It reminded Peter of a circuit board and one of those optical illusions from those "zen" coloring books.

"Pretty cool, right?" Ashley asked, and Danny nodded adamantly. "This is one of the more rarer samples NASA sent to us. It's called an Iron meteorite, and it's made completely out of an iron-nickle alloy."

"Most of meteorites found on Earth are Chondrites, right?" Danny asked, still eyeing the sample in Ashley's hands. "They don't have nearly as much metal in them." Ashley blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, that's right," She replied as she set the sample back on the shelf before she grinned. "Well, look at you! All studied up!" Danny blushed and fidgeted slightly.

"I've wanted to be an astronaut since I was five," Danny said. "I'm mostly interested in astronomy and space exploration, but my mom used to take me out to watch meteors showers when I was little."

"Awe," Ashley replied, picking up another meteorite from the shelf. "That's really sweet. A lot of our volunteers who work here have similar interests and backgrounds. Would you be interested in volunteering? It seems like this would be right up your alley."

"Oh, um," Danny stuttered, digging his hands in his hoodie pockets. "I don't live in New York. Just visiting. And I'm still a sophomore in high school."

"Well, something to think about when you graduate," Ashley smiled, holding up the new sample so Danny could see.

"Are there any new exhibits the planetarium is planning?" Danny asked, observing the sample in Ashley's hands.

"It depends on what people want to see," Ashley replied. "Every month we have a guest speaker give a lecture on a specific topic requested by visitors, and our interns think of new exhibit ideas all the time. In fact, we have a long-term volunteer and intern team working on a virtual reality exhibit generated from satellite scans of planets, Mars rover data, and computer generated solar system models." Danny's jaw dropped.

"You guys have VR simulations!?" Danny exclaimed.

* * *

"Peter!" Danny yelled from across the room, a wireless VR headset sitting on his face as he turned wildly in a circle. "Peter, you have got to try this!"

"Don't worry about it Danny," Peter laughed, smiling as he leaned against one of the intern's desks. "My eyes are too sensitive to look at screens like that for too long. You can just take my turn, okay?"

"Not a problem," Danny answered with a silly grin on his face, craning his head back to look at something in the simulation while the team of interns at another desk chuckled at Danny's response. Ashley had brought Danny and Peter to a large room, this one practically empty except for a cluster of five desks and a taped off area on the floor surrounded by mounted cameras. She introduced Peter and Danny to the group of four interns who were working on the VR exhibit, and Danny quickly endeared himself to them as he excitedly asked about their project; which Mars rover they were basing their simulation on, if they were planning on doing the same for other planets and moons, if they were going to add zero-g movement to the solar system model, etc. As they continued to talk, one of the interns even brought out a pad paper to jot down ideas Danny was unknowingly giving them until one of them made a suggestion.

"You wanna give it a go?" Danny had practically glowed, zipping back to Ashley to make sure he was allowed and that they wouldn't get in trouble. Ashley had just grinned and given Danny a wink.

"It's their project," She said. "They can show it to whoever they want to." It didn't take long for Danny to get outfitted with a VR headset and a pair of motion controllers. One of the intern's explained that the program was just a walking simulator at this point, and some of the other aspects hadn't been implemented yet while the rest of the interns turned on the cameras and computers. Danny had just patiently followed along, going through the calibration process for the motion cameras and then he was off on his own little Mars mission. Two of the interns stayed by the computer, watching the program run and keeping a look out for glitches or bugs, while the other two crowded around the edges of this simulation area; one followed Danny around, making sure he didn't get too close to the mounted cameras, and the other went through a check list as Danny tested each feature they had in the simulation.

"Well, doesn't he look as happy as a clam," Ashley said from his side, and Peter turned. She was holding two paper cups of coffee in her hands, one held out for Peter.

"Thanks Ash," Peter said, taking the cup and returned to watching Danny. "And he certainly does. This is the happiest I've seen him all week."

"He's a really sweet kid," Ashley stated, and Peter nodded while he took a sip of his drink. "Is he yours?" Peter spat his coffee back into his cup as he tried not to choke.

"Ashley!" Peter whispered, dumbfounded. "I told you, I'm just watching him for a family friend!"

"What, I'm just checking!" Ashley whispered back as she leaned against the same desk as Peter. "You just look like a proud dad, that's all." Peter sighed and set his cup on the desk.

"He's been having-, trouble, with his parents," Peter told her. "The last couple of days have been hard for him. I just wanted to cheer him up." Ashley paused, the smile slipping off her face as she chewed her lip.

"Is he going to be okay?" She asked softly.

"I don't know," Peter admitted, watching Danny closely as he continued to ask questions as he explored the simulation. "But I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure he is."

* * *

Danny spent the rest of the day in total bliss; finally tuckering himself out after running around in the simulation for forty-five minutes, he spent another ten with the intern team, giving them his general impression and relaying any glitches he thought he noticed. Ashley gently reminded them that they had more of the tour to continue, and Danny asked for a picture with the interns for his scrap book before they were off. Ashley guided them through the rest of the inner workings of planetarium, stopping with other volunteers or interns as they went. Danny gave his full attention to each of them, asking questions about their work and engaging with all the people he met. It was amazing to see Danny break out of his shell, and Peter could see he was starting to gain the same easy confidence he had as Phantom. Danny was almost reluctant to leave when Ashley mentioned that the IMAX movie was starting soon, but the older volunteer they had stopped to chat with just smiled and encouraged them to go. It was nearly three in the afternoon when the movie finished, and after a quick stop at the gift shop for Danny, they were done

~~(Peter could have smacked himself; of course Danny wanted a space pun t-shirt, and of course he would immediately put it on over his other t-shirt from this morning, the dork)~~

After they had said goodbye to Ashley, Peter and Danny headed back to the safe house for a late lunch, as Danny had been snacking on candy for most of the afternoon. During the subway ride to Queens, Peter tried to keep the conversation as lighthearted as possible by asking Danny his favorite thing about the tour; Peter knew that at some point he would have to talk to Danny about his parents, but he wanted to see Danny so open and confident for a little longer. When they made it to the safe house, Peter ordered pizzas while Danny slumped into the kitchen chair as his energy levels finally waned. As Danny tiredly kicked off his shoes under the table, Peter bounced his phone from hand to hand after the call with the nearest pizzeria ended; he figured now would be a good time as any to discuss with Danny the topic of his parents. But just as he opened his mouth, Danny spoke.

"Hey Peter?" Danny asked drowsily, his arms pillowing his head on the table. "Thank you, for taking me to the planetarium to cheer me up. I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my last day in New York." Peter's heart stuttered and his stomach plummeted, nearly dropping his phone if it wasn't for his sticky fingers.

"What!?" Peter questioned frantically, slipping his phone into his vest pocket and quickly walking to the opposite end of the table. Danny blinked, and lifted his head slightly.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you guys," Danny responded, picking his head up fully while still laying on the table. "My parents got a little, uh-, spooked by our fight with Vlad. They want to head home a couple days early."

"When are you leaving?" Peter asked hesitantly. Danny let his chin rest on top of his arms.

"Tomorrow morning," he groused miserably. Peter dragged a hand over his mouth worriedly. _Shit! I thought I would have more time to ease into things!_ Danny watched as Peter panicked and he tensed, sitting up in his chair. "Why? What's going on?" Peter heaved a sigh, pulling out the other chair and sitting down.

"Danny," Peter started cautiously, "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay," Danny said slowly, picking at his new t-shirt. "What is it?" Peter swallowed and took a breath.

"It's about your parents," Peter answered, and Danny instantly tensed; getting defensive and standing from his chair.

"Is this about what Wade told you from yesterday?" Danny demanded, but it came out slightly shaky. "Like I told him, my parents aren't hurting me!"

"All right," Peter agreed placatingly, knowing that outright arguing about it would just put Danny deeper in denial. "They aren't hurting you. But they _are_ hurting Phantom, aren't they?" Danny's mouth closed and he hunched in on himself, clenching his hands as he slowly sat back down.

"Those are accidents," Danny whispered, his hands pressed tightly against his knees. "They wouldn't-, if they knew it was me, then they wouldn't-!"

"Then why haven't you told them, Danny?" Peter implored, speaking gently. Danny's silence told Peter all he needed to know. Peter leaned back against the chair, bringing his hand to wipe at his mouth again. "Just let me ask this Danny: Do you feel safe at home?" Danny was quiet and still for a moment, before he shook his head no, unable to bring himself to say the words. Peter closed his eyes and took another deep breath before he stood up from his chair. "Okay. Let me make a few calls-"

"No!" Danny shouted, lunging across the and grabbing Peter's sleeve. "No, Peter-, please don't!" Danny hiccuped once before he said quietly, "Please, don't..."

"Danny," Peter replied sadly, letting Danny hang onto his sleeve as he made his way around the table to stand by Danny's side. "Are you going to try and keep it a secrete from them forever?"

"Yes!" Danny answered, but then he hesitated. "Maybe. I don't know!"

"What if they find out before you're ready to tell them," Peter asked seriously. "What if they try and kill you?"

"They won't!" Danny replied earnestly, tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. "They won't! They're my parents-, they love me!" Peter dragged Danny into his arms, hugging him tightly as Danny shuddered and gasped for breath, tucking Danny's head under his chin.

"I think they do love you Danny," Peter whispered into Danny's hair. "But just because they love you, doesn't mean they can't hurt you too." Danny shook his head, but stayed enfolded in Peter's arms.

"I want to give them a chance," Danny pleaded determinedly. "Please-, just give them a chance." Peter pulled Danny back from his arms, and Danny wiped his eyes with his hoodie sleeve. _Da_ _mn it_ , God only knew how Peter wanted more than anything to chuck logic out the window; to tell Danny no, and just sequester him away in his apartment where he would be safe but-! Peter couldn't do that to Danny. Not Danny, who had barely any control over his life; who had friends and a sister that would worry about him; who had hopes and dreams that didn't revolve around being a hero; who would put himself in danger just so somebody else had the chance to make the right choice.

"All right," Peter whispered reluctantly. Danny's head jerked as he looked at Peter, desperate relief shining in his eyes.

"Really?" Danny asked brokenly. "You mean that?"

"Yeah," Peter sighed, bringing Danny in for another hug. "I may not trust you parents, but I trust you, Danny. I'll leave my faith in that."

"Thank you, Peter," Danny said, and reached up to dry his face. It was quiet for a moment before Peter pushed Danny back slightly by his shoulders and reached up to ruffle his hair softly.

"Here's what were going to do," Peter instructed, reaching for a slip of paper in his back pocked he had had with him since this morning. "First, you're going to memorize this and keep it in your wallet. Then after we eat, I'm showing you how to make a go-bag, and you are going to prepare _at least two_ of them when you get home."

"What's this?" Danny asked, opening the slip of paper curiously.

"It's my apartment address," Peter answered, and Danny's jaw dropped. "If you ever need me, _you text me_ ; and if you ever need a place to say, you can stay with me." Danny sniffled again, and leaned into Peter's chest. Peter exhaled a small breath and wrapped his arms back around Danny in affection.

"Thanks," Danny whispered. "Just-, thank you so much Peter."

"You'll be okay Danny," Peter whispered, "I've got your back." Danny relaxed as he nodded against Peter's chest.

 _Well,_ Peter thought as he started to rub Danny's back, _Now all I have to do is tell Wade_.

* * *

"What do you mean, you just let him leave!" Wade yelled as he kicked the coffee table in front of Peter's couch. Peter flinched on the sofa as the table slid off the rug and banged into the brick wall; he hopped his the neighbors downstairs were out.

"I didn't have a choice Wade," Peter ground out, trying to keep a level head. Wade scoffed, stomping towards the sofa and leaning over him threateningly, getting right up in his face.

"Bullshit, you didn't have a choice!" Wade spat, poking Peter hard in his chest. "How could you let him go back to those negligent, close-minded assholes? What the hell is wrong with you!" _That_ had Peter's blood rushing like rapids in his veins. He slapped Wade's hand away and slammed him against the bookshelf across the couch using his super strength, putting his arm across Wade's neck as his spider sense danced along his back and arms.

"You think I don't hate myself for letting him leave!?" Peter yelled, and Wade tensed but remained still. "That I won't have nightmares about how his parents might kill him!? News flash, Wade - of course I fucking do! But what could I have done, huh? Just keep him cooped up in my apartment, a teenager with a life and friends back home? He would have been miserable! Or should he have gone with you, traveling all over the world while looking over his shoulder, running for the rest of his life?" Peter heaved for breath before getting off of Wade and walking back towards the couch, leaning his elbows on his knees and holding his face in his hands.

"You should have called Matt," Wade said after a moment, pushing himself from the bookshelf and sitting at the other end of the sofa, crossing his arms.

"I wanted to," Peter whispered from behind his hands, "God, Wade, I wanted to. But he asked me to let him try and I couldn't be another thing in his life he had no control over. I couldn't do that to him, Wade."

"So what do we do now? We can't watch him 24/7 like we practically were here," Wade asked softly. Peter blinked and lifted his head out of his hands.

" _We_ can't," Peter agreed, relief filling his voice, "But Danny's sister can. I still have her messages on my phone. We can text both of them regularly, to make sure they're safe; if he's in trouble-."

"Then we can go get him," Wade finished.

"Or he can come here," Peter replied, leaning bonelessly into the sofa. "I gave him the address to my apartment. In the mean time, I can start filling Matt in. Hopefully we won't need him, but better that he gets a head start on it just in case."

"Either way," Wade answered, "We'll probably see Danny soon enough."

**Author's Note:**

> So that is the end of Season 1! Thank you all for you continued support, and I can't wait to start Season 2 with you.
> 
> I have a head canon that Danny likes to read science fiction because he loves space so much, so some of the topics Danny talks about are part of an actual discussion I had with my dad at nearly 12 am after I was messing around in a video game :) it was very fun and wholesome, so I used that as part as my inspiration for this episode as well. 
> 
> Also, you won't ever be able to pry that 'Peter Parker Acts like a Spider' tag from my cold dead fingers. Let Peter be spidery and Danny be ghostly.


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